My dog Buddy and Christian Faith.

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Archive | November 2018

I was going to blog about cowardice, but changed my mind due to recent current events.

I will be deeply grieved if Buddy were ever to leave me. Why? Because I love and know him.

This world, however, does not know Jesus: His might, His kindness, His mercy, His grace, His patience, His love, nor His authority. I’m sure those who know our Great Shepherd can come up with many other attributes to add to the above. As a result of not knowing Jesus, the world mocks and rejects the God of the Universe and His church. Our American society, led by the mainstream media, is progressively hostile in its attitude toward Christians and anyone who believes in the Bible.

This Psalm was written over three thousand years ago, yet accurately reflects our world today:

Why are the nations in an uproar? And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Messiah (Jesus), saying,

“Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”

He Who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them…

Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled.–NASB version, Psalm 2:1-4, 10-12

Increasingly we see the Ten Commandments, Crosses, and other symbols of Christianity being removed in our society, or people making attempts at removing them. In Europe, hostile groups are tearing down Christmas trees or causing Christians and Jews to flee or deny them sanctuary. Recently, a group attempted to prevent Franklin Graham from entering the UK to preach the gospel. A Syrian Christian returned to Syria after immigrating to Austria, because he “felt safer” in his home country.

Although Jesus promises us freedom–freedom from sin, defeat, the devil, eternal punishment, self-destruction, negativity–the world sees Jesus and His commandments as enslavement, a “fetter” that must be “cast off” so that they can have the freedom to do whatever they want, to define their morality as they see fit, often in the disguise of a religious belief.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”–Jesus, John 8:36

Out of love for us, God sent Jesus to suffer the punishment for our sin. Jesus is our mediator, the bridge between a perfectly holy, sinless God and imperfect humanity.

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”–Apostle Peter, 2 Peter 3:9

But as some point, His patience is going to run out.

Because the world does not know Him, we must tell them, out of love for their welfare, even if they don’t want to listen.

Before “His wrath is kindled…”

***

My dear reader, Jesus loves you far more than I could even possibly love my beloved Buddy. He created you and sustains you every day. He wants to be in a loving relationship with you and not be estranged from you. Could you please consider giving your heart to Him today? He wants to be your Father–and your best friend.

I intended to write on another topic tonight, but when I was in the bathroom this morning, Buddy joyously greeted me with a wagging tail because I had returned from attending church. He was happy just to see me and be in my company. And it made me feel good because my dog cares about me and wants me around.

It got me thinking, “Am I happy just be in God’s company? Am I rejoicing because I’m a child of God and know that, through my relationship with Jesus Christ, I will be “rescued from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10)? Am I enjoying God for Who He is and not just what He can give me and those I pray for? Or do in this world?

Jude says that one day I will stand before Him in the Afterlife, “blameless with great joy. (Jude 1:24).” Apostle Paul also echoes this in Colossians 1:22, “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”

Because Jesus died for my sin, I don’t have to fear approaching God. He now sees me clothed in the “righteousness of Christ” and “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103: 12).” Jesus encouraged prayer and making requests of God. To see Him as our Father, our encourager and our comforter. King David often poured his heart out to God to find comfort and strength in his suffering and travails, as written down in the Psalms. Apostle John frequently emphasized in his letters that God is love and loves us: “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God (1 John 3:1).”

Apostle Peter also encouraged us to open our hearts in prayer to God, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).”

After the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, the Jewish people wept because of their nation’s sin which had caused God to allow the destruction of their city by the Babylonians in 586 BC. But God admonished them, telling them to rejoice instead. “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”–Nehemiah 8:10

I know Psalm 100 by heart. But it’s time that I try harder to apply, with God’s guidance, this great Psalm’s encouragement to enjoy God:

“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing…Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.”

Because God is good and loves me, I can enjoy His presence: through prayer and giving thanks, rejoicing in my blessings, in this beautiful world and family and friends and living in a wonderful country. Instead of focusing on the hurt and trouble and evil in the world.

Or as the shorter version of the Westminster Catechism teaches:

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

Have a blessed week.

***

God loves you and sent Jesus to die for your sins. You can become a child of God and enjoy His presence by admitting you are a sinner. Why must you do that? Because, when Adam and Eve ate the apple, they were telling God that they didn’t need His advice on how to live, they were going to decide it for themselves. As a result of rejecting Him, God’s Holy Spirit left the human race and so every generation has been born separated from God since. When you ask God to forgive your sin, you’re admitting to Him that you don’t have all the answers and want His guidance and presence in your life, that you want Him to be your great Shepherd and leader. Please ask Him to forgive your sins and ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, to guide your through His Word, the Bible, on how to live this life. He’s waiting for your invitation to let Him enter into your life and heart.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to Him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”–Revelation 3:20